System and Method for Enhanced Fraud Detection in Automated Electronic Credit Card Processing

1. A method of authorizing a credit card for transactions, comprising the steps of: receiving information input by a user, wherein said input information includes credit card information for a credit card being authorized, the user's name and address, and only a portion of a uniquely identifying piece of information about the user; validating the input information with information stored in a credit card database provided by an issuer of the user's credit card; accessing a second independent database having a list of individuals stored therein, wherein each of said individuals includes uniquely identifying information stored therewith and further includes at least one address stored therewith corresponding to an address of an individual; determining whether an individual exists in the second independent database associated with the user input information by locating an individual having uniquely identifying information stored therewith which matches the uniquely identifying piece of information input by the user; retrieving the at least one stored address from the second independent database associated with an individual found to match the user input information; comparing the user input address with the at least one retrieved stored address to corroborate the information stored in the credit card database with the information stored in the second independent database; and authorizing the credit card for transactions when said input information is determined to correspond to information stored in both the credit card database and the second independent database.

2. The method of authorizing a credit card for transactions as defined in claim 1 , wherein the second independent database is stored separately and independently from the credit card information stored by the issuer.

3. The method of authorizing a credit card for transactions as defined in claim 1 , wherein the second independent database further includes a corresponding name stored with each individual, wherein the step of determining whether an individual exists in the second independent database associated with the user input information further comprises determining whether the user input name matches a name stored in the second independent database.

4. The method of authorizing a credit card for transactions as defined in claim 3 , wherein the step of determining whether a match exists for an individual stored in the second independent database comprises the steps of: locating all individuals stored in the second independent database containing uniquely identifying information stored therewith which matches the portion of the uniquely identifying information input by the user; and determining whether one of the located individuals contains a name stored therewith which matches the user input name.

5. The method of authorizing a credit card for transactions as defined in claim 4 , wherein the step of determining whether one of the located individuals contains a name stored therewith which matches the user input name comprises the steps of: determining whether the last name of one of the located individuals matches the last name input by the user; and determining whether the stored first name of an individual found to have matched the user input last name matches the user input first name.

6. The method of authorizing a credit card for transactions as defined in claim 5 , wherein when an individual in the second independent database is found to have matched the user input last name but does not match the user input first name, the method further comprising the steps of: generating at least one nickname for the user input first name; and determining whether the stored first name of an individual found to have matched the user input last name matches the at least one generated nickname.

7. The method of authorizing a credit card for transactions as defined in claim 1 , wherein said portion of a uniquely identifying piece of information about the user is a portion of the user's social security number.

8. A method of authorizing a credit card for transactions, comprising the steps of: receiving information input by a user, wherein said user input information includes the user's name, credit card information, and address; validating the input information with information stored in a credit card database provided by an issuer of the user's credit card; accessing a second independent database having a list of individuals' names stored therein, wherein each of said individuals includes at least one address stored therewith corresponding to an address of an individual; determining whether an individual exists in the second independent database having information stored therewith which matches the name input by the user; retrieving the at least one stored address associated with an individual found to match the user input information; comparing the input address with the at least one retrieved stored address to corroborate the information stored in the credit card database with the information stored the second independent database; and authorizing the credit card for transactions when said input information is determined to correspond to information stored in both the credit card database and the second independent database.

9. The method of authorizing a credit card for transactions as defined in claim 8 , wherein the step of determining whether one of the located individuals contains a name stored therewith which matches the user input name comprises the steps of: determining whether the last name of one of the individuals stored in the second independent database matches the last name input by the user; and determining whether the stored first name of an individual found to have matched the user input last name matches the user input first name.

10. The method of authorizing a credit card for transactions as defined in claim 9 , wherein when an individual in the second independent database is found to have matched the user input last name but does not match the user input first name, the method further comprising the steps of: generating at least one nickname for the user input first name; and determining whether the stored first name of an individual found to have matched the user input last name matches the at least one generated nickname.

11. The method of authorizing a credit card for transactions as defined in claim 8 , further comprising the step of generating a request for a user at the remote terminal to input a portion of a uniquely identifying piece of information about the user; wherein each individual in the second independent database includes a portion of uniquely identifying piece of information stored therewith; wherein the step of determining whether a match exists in the second independent database further comprises determining whether an individual exists in the second independent database having a portion of uniquely identifying information stored therewith which matches the portion of the uniquely identifying information and the name input by the user.

12. The method of authorizing a credit card for transactions as defined in claim 11 , wherein said portion of a uniquely identifying piece of information about the user is a portion of the user's social security number.

13. An automated system for authorizing a credit card for transactions, comprising: receiving means receiving information input by a user, wherein said input information includes credit card information for a credit card being authorized, the user's name and address, and only a portion of a uniquely identifying piece of information about the user; comparing means for comparing the input information with information stored in a credit card information database provided by an issuer of the user's credit card to determine whether the input information is valid; determining means for accessing a second independent database of stored individuals having at least one corresponding address and a corresponding portion of a uniquely identifying piece of information stored with each individual and determining whether an individual exists in the second independent database having information stored therewith which matches the portion of the uniquely identifying piece of information input by the user; retrieval means for retrieving the at least one stored address associated with an individual found to match the user input information; processing means for comparing the user input address with the at least one retrieved stored address from the second independent database to corroborate the information stored in the credit card information database; and authorizing means for authorizing the credit card for transactions when said input information is determined to correspond to the retrieved information stored in both the credit card information database and the second independent database.

14. The automated system for authorizing a credit card for transactions as defined in claim 13 , wherein the second independent database is stored separately and independently from the credit card information stored by the issuer.

15. The automated system for authorizing a credit card for transactions as defined in claim 13 , wherein the second independent database further includes a name stored with each corresponding individual, wherein said determining means further determines whether an individual exists in the second independent database associated with the name input by the user.

16. The automated system for authorizing a credit card for transactions as defined in claim 15 , wherein each individual in the second independent database includes corresponding uniquely identifying information stored therewith, wherein said determining means further: determines all individuals stored in the second independent database containing a portion of uniquely identifying information stored therewith which matches the portion of the uniquely identifying information input by the user; and determines whether one of the located individuals contains a name stored therewith which matches the user input name.

17. The automated system for authorizing a credit card for transactions as defined in claim 16 , wherein when determining whether one of the located individuals contains a name stored therewith which matches the user input name, said determining means further: determines whether the last name of one of the located individuals matches the last name input by the user; and determines whether the stored first name of an individual found to have matched the user input last name matches the user input first name.

18. The automated system for authorizing a credit card for transactions as defined in claim 17 , wherein when an individual in the second independent database is found to have matched the user input last name but does not match the user input first name, said determining means further: generates at least one nickname for the user input first name; and determines whether the stored first name of an individual found to have matched the user input last name matches the at least one generated nickname.

19. The automated system for authorizing a credit card for transactions as defined in claim 13 , wherein said portion of uniquely identifying piece of information about the user is a portion of the user's social security number.

20. An automated system for authorizing a credit card for transactions, comprising: receiving means receiving information input by a user, wherein said input information includes the user's name, credit card information, and address; comparing means for comparing the input information with information stored in a credit card information database provided by an issuer of the user's credit card to determine whether the input information is valid; determining means for accessing a second independent database of stored individuals having at least one address stored therewith corresponding to an address of an individual identified by the individual's name and determining whether an individual exists in the second independent database having a name stored therewith which matches the name input by the user; retrieval means for retrieving the at least one stored address associated with an individual found to match the user input information; processing means for comparing the input address with the at least one retrieved stored address from the second independent database and corroborating the information stored in the credit card information database; and authorizing means for authorizing the credit card for transactions when said input information is determined to correspond to the retrieved information stored in both the credit card information database and the second independent database.

21. The automated system for authorizing a credit card for transactions as defined in claim 20 , wherein the second independent database is stored separately and independently from the credit card information stored by the issuer.

22. The automated system of authorizing a credit card for transactions as defined in claim 20 , wherein when determining whether one of the individuals stored in the second independent database matches the user input name, said determining means further: determines whether the last name of any of the individuals matches the last name input by the user; and determines whether the stored first name of an individual found to have matched the user input last name matches the user input first name.

23. The automated system of authorizing a credit card for transactions as defined in claim 22 , wherein when an individual in the second independent database is found to have matched the user input last name but does not match the user input first name, said determining means further: generates at least one nickname for the user input first name; and determines whether the stored first name of an individual found to have matched the user input last name matches the at least one generated nickname.

24. The automated system for authorizing a credit card for transactions as defined in claim 20 , wherein said inquiry means further requests the user to input a portion of a uniquely identifying piece of information about the user; wherein said determining means further: locates all individuals stored in the second independent database containing a portion of a uniquely identifying piece of information stored therewith which matches the portion of the uniquely identifying piece of information input by the user; and determines whether one of the located individuals contains a name stored therewith which matches the user input name.

25. The automated system for authorizing a credit card for transactions as defined in claim 24 , wherein said portion of uniquely identifying piece of information about the user is a portion of the user's social security number.